Sometimes, a guy just wants to have fun.
In a move that both stunned and amused political pundits, this week Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order prohibiting private businesses from establishing attire mandates. When signing the order, Abbott remarked, “If we aren’t going to allow businesses to discriminate on the basis of vaccination status, then we shouldn’t allow them to discriminate on the basis of one’s attire.”
Interestingly, the order makes one exception. Hooters will be allowed to continue its mandate that waitresses wear very tight and revealing t-shirts. When asked about the exception, the governor replied, “I am a realist. Without those skimpy outfits, Hooters would go out of business. And a Texas without Hooters would be like… I don’t know. I don’t know what it would be like, but it wouldn’t be good.”
Congressperson Sheila Jackson-Lee, not wanting to miss an opportunity to demonstrate her command of the English language, told a local radio station, “Once again, the governor shows us why he isn’t fit to lead the great state of Texas. He is so out of touch with normal people that he can’t come up with a simile. That’s like saying that it never rains in Southern California.”
Business leaders had mixed reactions. Businesses that currently do not have a dress code, like strip clubs, were ambivalent. However, businesses that require uniforms for employees expressed concern. A spokesman for the Dallas Cowboys said, “This is going to create chaos on the football field.”
Abbott’s executive order was the latest of a flurry of dictates issued during the week. He previously ordered the state’s radio stations to play “All I Want for Christmas is You” by Mariah Carey every day at noon. He also prohibited parents from naming their child anything “weird,” and mandated that high schools teach the jitterbug.